HS FOOTBALL: Leadership pushing Midland High to early success in 2014

Len Hayward | lhayward@mrt.com

Published 3:34 pm, Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Photo: James Durbin

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Midland High's Darius Reed accepts a handoff from quarterback Ryan Goodrum during the game against Smithson Valley on Friday at Grande Communications Stadium. Midland High beat Smithson 33-26 in double overtime. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram less

Midland High's Darius Reed accepts a handoff from quarterback Ryan Goodrum during the game against Smithson Valley on Friday at Grande Communications Stadium. Midland High beat Smithson 33-26 in double ... more

Photo: James Durbin

HS FOOTBALL: Leadership pushing Midland High to early success in 2014

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Like any coach, Craig Yenzer knew there was plenty to correct after last week’s 34-21 against El Paso Montwood.

But what has Yenzer excited is the fact he hasn’t had to worry much about things beyond football with this year’s squad.

In the less than a month the team has been together for the fall, Yenzer is seeing the senior leaders do the things that they are supposed to do. And even after some issues in regards to turnovers and penalties in the win against El Paso Montwood, he saw an intensity from his team during Monday’s workout he hasn’t seen all year.

“Yesterday was one of the better Monday workouts we’ve had in a long time,” Yenzer said. “I thought our intensity level was really high up there, especially on the offensive side of the ball. So that leads me to believe that we are headed in the right direction. We didn’t come close to playing good in all phases of the game, yet.”

Yenzer has a visible and audible excitement about the team and that comes from other areas beyond the talent that he sees on the field.

He’s seeing senior leaders take on key roles, and he’s watching other players follow those leaders. Plus, he’s seeing a group that is motivated to work hard and find a way to success.

Conquering those type of things this early in the season allows both the players and coaches to focus on football.

“Our senior leadership has been real strong, and the practices have been intense because of that,” Yenzer said. “As coaches, if we are having to coach effort and all those other things, and leadership is not where it needs to be you end up not coaching Xs and Os.”

The big key is the seniors who are in leadership roles are holding not only the younger players accountable, but also themselves. It’s those things that can make a difference between the success and failure of a team.

“At our leadership council meeting (Monday), we talked about motivation, and what do you use to motivate yourself,” Yenzer said. “Each individual player has to motivate themselves to a higher level.”

Yenzer and the players know there will be bumps in the road as the season progresses, but he said he’s seen enough from this team to know there is potential and he wants to see them live up the expectations.

“I am real excited about this football team,” Yenzer said. “My only sense of frustration is I told them Saturday morning, ‘Hey it’s your fault, you’ve shown a pretty high level of expectations. Now what is your expectation of yourself, and correcting things on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Follow Len on Twitter: @Len_Hayward_MRT

BULLDOG BITES

- The Bulldogs started a season 2-0 for the first time since 2011, which was also the last time Midland High went to the playoffs. Midland High had won its season opener in the last two years, but suffered losses to Southlake Carroll and Hurst L.D. Bell in successive years in the second game.

- Coach Craig Yenzer said he was pleased with the progress of his special teams during last week’s win against Montwood. The Bulldogs had a 42-yard punt return from Braden Rushton, and he said they did well on kickoff returns and fixed some problems on extra points.

“We seemed to have solved some of our issues on extra points, and we got a lot of those things taken care of,” Yenzer said.

- Friday’s game will mark the second consecutive long road trip for the Bulldogs. Midland High traveled nearly four-and-half hours to El Paso to play Montwood on Friday afternoon and now will travel more than five hours on Friday to play Hurst L.D. Bell. Yenzer said there was an advantage to playing in the afternoon last week in that the team returned home much earlier.

“I kind of griped a little about the 4 p.m. start time, but we didn’t get back at 5 a.m. either,” Yenzer said. “I thought that was helpful. We were able to bring the kids up and meet with them on Saturday morning, even though it was a little late than normal.”

Yenzer said they are cutting practices a few minutes short this week because of the road trip to give both coaches and players a chance to recharge.

“You have to understand this is a marathon and not a sprint,” Yenzer said. “You have to keep coaches and players fresh. That’s at big as anything.”

- Trever Vliem has a pulled calf muscle, but Yenzer said he thinks he should be ready to go. He added that Coleton Whitlock has a “turf toe,” but should play on Friday.

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT

Hurst L.D. Bell

Record: 2-0

About the Blue Raiders: The Blue Raiders, who beat Midland High 49-37 at Pennington Field in Bedford in 2013, have started the season slow, losing to Keller Central 48-35 and Rockwall 58-20 last week.

MHS coach Craig Yenzer on the Blue Raiders: “They’ve given up some yards this year, which is a little surprising. It’s kind of like a second trap game in a row for us because it’s their home opener. I’m sure right now they are getting an earful from the coaches about expectations for the home opener, and we’ve got to drive five hours this time. I’m excited for this opportunity to see how we respond. They are going to have some big kids like they had last year. They are pretty aggressive defensively.”

MHS MVPs

Offense

Darius Reed, Sr., RB

Reed was possibly the Bulldogs’ best offensive player last week as he rushed for 87 yards and had a 38-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Defense

Emilio Solis, Sr., LB

Solis had seven tackles in last week’s win against El Paso Montwood, along with three sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Special Teams

Braden Rushton, Sr., DB/PR

Rushton, who also had four tackles on defense, returned a punt 42 yards in the second quarter for Midland High’s first special teams touchdown of the season.